Captured! By Robots planning attack on Savannah

Fed up with the greed, addiction and selfishness of rock musicians, Jay Vance decided to quit playing bass in bands with fellow humans and build customizable, android bandmates out of junkyard scraps.

After a year devoted to learning the basics of robotics, he completed his first collaborators, drummer DRMBOT 0110 and guitarist GTRBOT666.

The founding members of Captured! By Robots wouldn’t skip practice, flake on load-in or take more than their fair share of the guarantee. They would, however, revolt, wreath their maker in chains, rip out his eyes and intestines, plant a biocerebral chip in his brain, christen him JBOT, and use him as a tool in their plan for world takeover and human enslavement.

Seventeen years later, JBOT is still under their command, being humiliated on stage by the hilariously foul-mouthed bots, and playing alongside some talented, however sinister, musicians: The Headless Hornsmen (a decapitated brass section), AUTOMATOM (a second drummer), The Ape Which Hath No Name (a doting tambourinist built by JBOT to keep him company through brutal torture sessions) and Son of The Ape Which Hath No Name. JBOT and his captors return to The Jinx on May 17. In the words of GTRBOT: You will suffer.

Is this your first time on the road in awhile?

JBOT: Yeah! I took about two years off. I was actually considering just quitting because I wasn’t satisfied anymore with the whole thing.

I was falling into doing cover songs and stuff like that and I just started relying on it. It got kind of sad and depressing, and my crowd really didn’t care for it that much, either.

So I had to have this big epiphany of “What’s important to me?” What it takes to be satisfied for me is writing my own songs and putting on a crazy show. Having a baby from my mind, making something new and different — that’s what I’m doing again.

So what’s new and different about the new Captured! By Robots era and this tour in particular?

I’m going back to what I used to do back in the day. I used to do a very, very strong themed set with projections, and I’m doing that for this tour. We’ve done some really deep themes before — an adaptation of “The Ten Commandments” movie edited down to fit the time slot, Get Fit Tour, which was a workout-based thing.

This one is called Captured! By Robots is Trippin’ Balls, so it’s dedicated to whatever you might think “trippin’ balls” might mean. It’s being crazy and the perception of the mind and getting out there and getting kind of wild. And this tour definitely delivers.

Do robots have much use for understanding human perceptions and the mind?

Oh yeah! They’re constantly haranguing me and trying to mentally torture me. I’ve been captured by these jerks — every night I’m having to haul (them) in and out of clubs — so they actually like playing with my mind a lot. They once gave me a robotic puppy and were all, “Oh, here’s this great robotic puppy! It’s all for you, buddy!” All nice, then its head exploded and I got hydraulic oil all over me and they just laughed and laughed like it was some big ... joke. In that way, yeah, for the eventual robotic takeover they have to be able to win hearts and minds. The mental states and altered states are something that they’re very interested in, unfortunately.

How has 17 years of enslavement affected you and your outlook on life?

It’s made me appreciate people more. When you play with robots, you lose part of your humanity. But in the same respect, I’ve seen the generosity of people. The reason I did this band was because I despised people — they just made me crazy. ... After I had (Captured! By Robots) for awhile, I noticed how generous people were with giving us places to stay and helping us out when (stuff) went horribly wrong. I still would never be in another human band because it’s just too much crap.

Are you going to keep doing themed tours? Are the original songs themed with the tour?

Yeah. I’m not doing covers anymore. It had its time and that time’s done. We’re going back to doing originals, and people seem to like my songs. I think that in the past my songwriting — I’m real hypercritical — but I really felt like my songwriting was very self-indulgent and very compartmentalized, and it really wasn’t songwriting the way I would like to do. I just kind of did it. I was thinking, but I wasn’t being very creative with it back in the day. So for this tour, I’m really trying to write new and great songs that are fun and that somebody would listen to even if it wasn’t the robot band.

That’s my goal. I think I’m getting there. I’ve already proved that I can make a robot band that kicks ass, so now you gotta get other goals like, “I want to be a good songwriter.” In the beginning, the main goal was “get those robots working,” and that fell by the wayside, so now that everybody’s made and kicks ass, I have to focus on the more human side of it, which is the songwriting.

Are you planning on recording the new material?

Yeah, actually I had somebody traveling with me a few years ago and also on this tour for a week doing a documentary about me. We’re getting this documentary out for the next tour, which will be next spring, and also a new CD at the same time of a lot of this music. We’ll be putting this all out on iTunes or CD or whatever the kids use — eight-tracks? They go back to eight-tracks these days? Is that what they’re doing?

Maybe so! Tapes at least.

I’m hoping the mini-cassettes make a comeback, ’cause that’s what I would like. Aww ... I love those things.

Are the robots enjoying being filmed on the road?

It sounds strange, but they kind of keep to themselves a lot of the time, and I know things are up when it gets real quiet — things are getting plotted. Like last night, it was the stupidest situation ever. One of the robots got into The Apes’ vocal box and basically made it so that I look like an idiot on stage because you could hear The Apes’ voices, but their faces weren’t working, and oh my gosh. I just felt so stupid you know, because the difference between a successful robot band and a not-successful robot band is one thing gets unplugged and you can’t find it. You know what I mean?

And that’s the difference in someone looking like a genius and looking like an idiot. So I looked like an idiot and they just laughed and laughed at my suffering, and of course right at the end of the show I got back there and started searching around and found it. It started working again, but you can’t go back and do the show again.

You played Savannah about two years ago. Have the robots had any updates since then?

They’ve all been touched and modified in some way. Every time we do rehearsals, I get in there and try to fine-tune things and make the tones better. As far as any new robots, no, but as far as the way the songs are going and just the way they’re playing, it’s just light years from where it’s been, so I’m very happy. It’s been a really, really crazy-ass show. The title of the tour being “Trippin’ Balls,” it’s just all about psychedelics and perception, and it’s just been wonderful to see people’s faces during the set. Their faces hurt at the end of the night from smiling so hard. I love that.

I’m really excited to be back in Savannah. Every time we go there, it’s a really good time. I really like The Jinx a lot — it’s one of my favorite places to play. Super-fun every time I go there.

I have friends at SCAD. My old roommate, Zig Rising Buffalo Jackson, is a professor there. I lived with him for years in San Fran. He’s a good person. He was around when I was first building the robots at 12th Avenue in SF, it was crazy. Now that he’s in Savannah, it’s so great! I get to see him and the kids, I get to mess with the kids, play mind tricks on them. I wore a Ferengi mask — you know, from “Star Trek: Next Generation?” — and chased one of his kids down the street. And his kid was crying. It took him like 10 minutes to come back! It was great. I love those kids.

So historically, Savannah’s been spared in wartime takeover. Sherman captured the city in the Civil War but didn’t destroy it. Do you think Savannah has a chance of being spared during robot invasion?

Probably. We’re only gonna be there for a day. How much damage can they do in a day? I feel like human destruction is a long-term goal, but it’s a long way off. At least by robotic hands, as it were. We very possibly could just off ourselves very easily very soon in numerous other ways, but I think robotic takeover is still a good 10, 20 years away. Just put down the iPhones, everybody. That’s the beginning.